Public Satsang at Sunnyvale, USA- 16th June 2015

Full question:

We know that the Atma is smaller than the smallest and bigger than the biggest. A single grain of sand has over a hundred billion atoms. An atom is composed of a nucleus and electrons that go around it. If you blow up the nucleus to the size of a ping pong ball, the closest electrons to it will be approximately between the cities of New York and Los Angeles. All that space that is in between is how I perceive You, Swami – to be unseen. All that empty space is unseen by me.
Now, the Atma that is within the heart, is it the whole heart or is it simply the size of a grain of sand? Or is it the infinitely small, without end? I believe that it is infinitely small, without end; and in this empty space that we can perceive with the eyes, yet hard to comprehend with our minds – that is where I see that we are all one and there is no difference. Also, I see attachment to the world is one of the greatest hindrances to recognizing this. We see all these things on TV, become so material and feel ‘I want this’ and ‘I want that’, instead of recognizing ‘I am That’. What puzzles me is the evil in the world. I don’t know how You will do it, but I know that with Your Grace working through us, we shall have eternal peace.

Swami: Atma is like air. Air pervades everything. It is there in the smallest area to the largest of fields. Air pervades all. Everything is in the air; the air is in everything. That is the nature of the Atma. If you break the pot, the air inside the pot and the air outside the pot become one. If you close the pot, you may define the air as ‘air in the pot’ and ‘air outside’. This attachment to oneself and believing that one is just the body brings about all these differences. If you give up this attachment, then everything appears as one. It is as simple as that. The body is just the container – a vessel in which the part of God that is bigger, Paramatma (God) is being encapsulated as Jivatma (the individualized soul). The moment body attachment goes, Jivatma and Paramatma become one and there is only one that exists. It is we who create this difference.

Suppose there were no walls here; this hall and the ground outside would be one. The walls define this as a hall and outside as the empty space or ground. Likewise, we have built these walls of body attachment which makes us feel different from each other. The moment we give up this, all are the same. Jesus said, “All are one, my dear son, be alike to everyone,” because He understood this truth.

World peace will come if you are at peace. If you are not at peace, there cannot be peace in the world. One may sit in an ashram and still be restless; one may sit in the market but still be at peace. Once you attain inner peace, you will see its reflection everywhere. Outer peace also will be attained. Inner peace will come only where there is unity of thought, word and action. When there is unity, there will be tremendous peace. There is no peace when you think something, say something and do something else. If you make it all one, you will have inner peace. That’s when you will also have outer peace. It is not nature which is making noise; it is not God who is making noise; it is men who are making noise. It is humans who have to be at peace, not Nature or God. If you are at peace with yourself, you will spread the peace to those around you. This peace will come only if you think, say and do the same thing. If you think you are Divine, say you’re Divine, and do things that are Divine, that is when you will attain peace within yourself and peace in the world outside.